Becoming a Monster

Her face turned to shock when she saw Noah's new appearance, it reminded her of the Demon lords in the stories they read. That thought made her believe even more that she wasn't going to like what she was going to hear.

"Tell me, what were you planning to do by approaching him just now?" As he asked the question, she looked away in shame.

She couldn't look him in the eye, but she knew she had to say something.

"I…I had to…They were going to try to use me to get to you! I didn't…I didn't know what else t-Ah!"

She felt a presence directly in front of her and when she turned to face them, Noah used that chance to pop her on her forehead. The sudden jolt of pain caused her to cry out, thankfully Noah's stats were lowered because he had every intention to use his full force.

"If you really feel that way then answer for me one thing." She waited a few moments, but the question never came. Curiously, she tilted her head that was still holding the area that was in pain to see Noah staring her down. On his face was what he would consider a playful smile, but it appeared devilish to her as she was nervous about his question.

"Can I kill everyone in this room then?"

"!"

Not only her, but everyone listening was shocked to hear his question. He didn't bother to lower his voice, and everyone was anxious to hear what he had to say.

'What did i just hear?' Was the first thought going through most of the peoples minds.

Mark grew flustered when he heard what was said and was about to interrupt, however when he saw Noah's face, he gulped in fear before trying to calm himself down. The small smile Noah had originally was now showing all of his teeth that were covered with blood and a few pieces of red meat was stuck in his teeth.

There were people who were put on edge to the question and aimed their weapons and abilities towards Noah while the more frightened ones prepared to make a run for it.

That brief moment of fighting back didn't last long when Fenrir also responded to the question by positioning himself on his hind legs and he began to salivate uncontrollably while his wild gaze broke through the little bit of courage the people had.

They already realized from the first two attempts that nothing they did to the werewolf could stop. If the beast actually fought back, they were too afraid to think what would happen.

Jasmine and Bailey were the closest to the two when the question was asked and hurriedly backed away in fear. For a moment, Jasmine even considered if she should attack Noah now while his back was turned if that meant saving everyone here. However the thought was fleeting, they still had to wait on Ailetta to answer before they did anything drastic.

No matter what Noah has done during this time or how villanis she's witnessed him becoming. She has never once viewed him in fear, but his question, adorned with his smile frightened her. She had no doubt that he would do what he said if she answered yes. 'But what would happen if I say no?' She felt conflicted in her thoughts, yet when she saw Fenrir preparing for Noah's orders she hurried to answer him.

"No!" She almost screamed. She then noticed Noah's smile disappeared and he looked on to her indifferently.

"I mean…no…I wouldn't want you to do that…Please don't ask me something like that again." She followed up in a somewhat pleading tone. She became anxious when she saw Noah's expression didn't change and she became scared when she saw him begin to stand.

Not only her, but everyone in the surroundings felt a dreadful feeling when they saw him rise.

"So you don't want me to kill them and yet you didn't think I would kill them all after making you feed yourself to Fenrir? Have you not learned anything from what you said you enjoyed reading? Weak people who view themselves as weak will sacrifice themselves. Sigh…With that mindset, I was right to believe you would hold me back."

"Arachne? Can you go get my things?" Disregarding the turmoil Ailetta was going through, he spoke to Arachne who remained by him to retrieve his sword and bag from the second floor. With just one jump from her, she arrived on the second level, causing those on that level to become startled.

At the same time, Ailetta was shocked to realize she was becoming like the female love interest that she despised from those stories. She always felt irritated when reading about the female heroine being so stupidly selfless and being so quick to sacrifice themselves and here she was doing the same thing.

It didn't take her long to come to and notice Noah walking away With his sword now in hand and his backpack strapped on his shoulders. The direction he was going wasn't towards the cafeteria or well they all came from, but it was down another hall to lead out to the other side of the building.

Her heart dropped, she recalled the last thing he said about her holding him back. She felt frustrated with herself, she wanted to change yet didn't know how. She wanted to follow him, but she knew that after what she did it wouldn't be possible. Frantically, she called out one last time, she needed to know or she felt that she would be lost in this chaotic world.

"What do I need to do to grow as strong as you?" From her tone, she sounded desperate, but if she continues on the path she's going now. She feels that she would either always have to depend on others or she would be dead soon enough. Her body was too weak to stand still, but her voice was able to reach him to make him stop.

He turned partially, feeling amused again when hearing the desperation in her voice. Maybe, just maybe….

He was curious to know to what ends she would go to gain her strength. Not having to think about the answer, he turned to start walking away before the doors leading into the hall while imparting her his 'wisdom'.

"You need to become a 'monster'.' He emphasized the last word, before he and his beast left the room with Fenrir being the last to follow.

With him leaving, everyone else 's bodies visibly relaxed to see the threat disappear.

Ailetta was busy racking her mind about what exactly did Noah mean by that.

'Does that mean I have to kill people too? Or do I need to eat a beast?' She couldn't come up with an answer, so she began to think about Noah's actions up till now and his change in appearance. That's when she came to the realization of what she needed to do.

'A Demon Lord…' She thought about the first impression when she saw his figure and those demonic red gems in each of his pupils.

Remembering the stories they read together, she remembered that Noah was particularly fond of the Demon Lords that were misunderstood. They did whatever they wanted and most of the time it made them appear bloodthirsty and evil in the eyes of the humans. But most of the time they were doing what humans did and yet they were the only ones still viewed as monsters.

She realized that to be what she considered to be a monster, she needed to stop conforming to human moral standards and rules and do whatever she desired. However in order to do that, she needs to be stronger.

"Ailetta? Ailetta??" The repeated calling of her name brought her back from her heavy thoughts to find her two friends standing over her with worried faces.

It took awhile for both groups to recover emotionally, after what happened regarding the situation with Ailetta. The atmosphere between the groups was stifling at best. Neal tried apologizing and making it seem that it wasn't his intention to harm her in any way, but the people close to her weren't buying it.

However no matter how much they disliked each, they all still had one common goal.

"So you think if we bought a radio from there then we should be able to reach out for help? That's kinda far-fetched don't you think Jas?" Neal asked, acting as if the situation before never happened. He was happy that Noah was finally out of the picture again. He also realized that the shop only had a little bit over an hour left, so Noah no longer had a reason to come back after his little falling out with Ailetta. He just had to get on their good side and he can have everyone under his lead in no time.

"….I don't think so. I think they will have more people at hand to properly gauge that information is more important. Who knows, instead of buying one, they may have someone who's able to get their communication to work. It's our only shot or we'll be left guessing on our next destination or will have to wait here for help or until our supply of food runs out."

A little bit later, everyone could be seen hurdling inside the cafeteria surrounding a certain table. It wasn't much for them to be able to retrieve a radio. Unlike what they believed, mundane items actually cost much less than what they expected. It was priced at only 500 gold and that was only because they were paying more for the distance it could reach.

"Now what?" A voice called out from the sea of people waiting for something to happen. However no one knew, they lived in an era where technology was more advanced, they didn't know what channel was used for emergencies.

"I think I know!" Another voice sounded, this voice for some reason sounded very prideful. They all looked to the voice and saw a male with a small stature wearing glasses. Mark was aware who he was and if Noah was here, he would also recognize him. He was Charlie, who was part of Mark's group when they tried to first put him down after finding out Noah was bitten.

Seeing that no one rejected him, he pushed up his glasses and pridefully walked over to the radio and started to move the knob to bring up the frequency. It didn't take long for him to do so before he stopped. The group all became anxious after he finished and thought that now should be the time when they try to connect with any form of help. However as soon as they arrived on the frequency, a voice could already be heard.

Buzz!* "-street, South Kenyastad. Accepting any survivors. Buzz!* For those who aren't able to, stay in your homes and don't leave! Help will come in a few days when the military gets everything under control. Buzz!* I repeat! 3982 Broad street, Sout~"

The voice was a broadcast being repeated, but just hearing that there was a place that was safe brought a huge relief to everyone there.

"Soo it's not the end…we can be saved?" It wasn't until the voice broke the silence that everyone grew excited. In their excitement, most of them forgot about an important fact and that was.

"Everyone wait!" Jasmine's voice was loud enough and her action of standing on the table allowed for her to slowly gain everyone's attention.

"We need to decide now, if we are going to sit and wait here…or if we find a way to go there ourselves."

....

A/N: I don't think people look at the notes so will put it here. Instead like before, I tried something different and skipped a lot of dialogue and interactions to pick up the pace.